


All the things that might be

by Kavi Leighanna (kleighanna)



Category: Criminal Minds, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Budding Romance, Christmas, Coffee Shop Fic, External point of view, F/M, Friendship, Peppermint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 06:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5365397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kleighanna/pseuds/Kavi%20Leighanna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The holidays are Luke’s favourite time of year; not because it’s Christmas, but because of the peppermint.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The Christmas season is Luke’s favourite. It’s not about the decorations or the upbeat mood that tends to overtake the city, nor is it about the happy atmosphere that tends to settle over the little corner Starbucks that is his domain.

It’s the peppermint.

More accurately, it’s the way the seasonal addition to their coffee lineup has this amazing – and maybe ridiculous – habit of bringing people together. In all of his years as a barista, Luke’s seen it happen more times than he can count and it never ceases to make him smile.

This peppermint season is no different.

It starts this year with one of Luke’s favourite, if rather quiet pairs. Their appearance in his little corner of heaven is sporadic at best, sometimes two weeks straight, sometimes nothing for over a month. He finds them a fascinating pair, always with this dark air hovering just outside of her pleasant smile, a calmness to him Luke can’t help but wonder whether it’s her doing or his regular state of being.

Luke has money on the fact that it’s probably her.

This morning however, Emily – because he’s written her name on too many cups at this point; at least that’s the argument he’s going with – is grinning, giddy, almost bouncing as she steps up to the counter. It makes Luke grin, of course, beaming right back at her. She is out of his league, by miles and miles, but he’s not blind to the way this kind of smile lights her up. From the brief flick he gives Tall, Dark and Somber, Luke is pretty sure he’s not the only one that’s noticed. Pat’s going to owe him so much money.

“Luke!”

He glances down at the counter, a reflexive gesture because Emily makes him feel like a kid. “Hi Miss Emily.”

She releases a disgruntled noise and Luke catches the flicker of a smile from TDB. It’s the sappiest Luke’s ever seen the man and he feels his heart skip just a bit. He’s starting to think Pat may not be the only one who will owe him money.

“How many times do I have to tell you-“

He’s already offering a sheepish shrug and a little bit of an embarrassed smile, fingers flying over the register’s touch screen. It probably shouldn’t make him as happy as it does.

He really likes his regulars.

“Grande, non-fat, extra shot hazelnut latte-“

Luke catches TDB’s eye roll, but Luke’s been paying close enough attention over the years to see the affection at the edges of the exasperation. Honestly, Luke has no idea how Emily hasn’t seen it by now. She’s terrifyingly observant – just last week she’d asked him how his chalk drawing was going, which hadn’t made any sense until he’d noticed the colourful staining on the sides of his hands – except, apparently, when it comes to the man standing just over her shoulder.

“Not today!”

Luke pauses, glances up. The smile is positively wicked now, taunting just a little. She leans in, offering in a stage whisper, “It’s peppermint season.”

Luke blinks, then chuckles, notices TDB doing the same. “It is.”

Emily hums, glances over her shoulder again. “A grande non-fat extra shot peppermint latte,” she says. “And a tall non-fat peppermint latte.”

Luke punches in the order, watching from under his lashes as TDB arches an eyebrow at her. Emily rolls her eyes.

“And a grande dark roast,” she adds with a rather epic eye roll. Then she spins to TDB. “The deal was you drink the whole peppermint,” she tells him, hands on her hips. “Then you get the black.”

Luke bites his cheek hard against the laughter that clogs his throat. He’s only seen this kind of back and forth play out once or twice between them, but it never ceases to amuse him. He’s convinced that someone seeing them for the first time would assume traditional gender roles, he’s the one in control, the dominant. But Luke has seen him gentle with Emily, a scowl softening the more time he spends sitting across from her.

They bicker while Luke takes care of the two peppermint drinks, slides them over the counter with a raised eyebrow. Emily snatches up the two grandes, waves imperiously at the tall.

“A deal’s a deal.”

Luke gets the absolute and genuine pleasure of watching TDB lift the small red cup to his mouth and take a sip. He has to bite both his cheeks against the face he makes, screwed up and unhappy.

“This is disgusting.”

Luke has to work really, really hard not to crack up this time, at the way Emily’s mouth drops open, offended.

“It’s _peppermint_.”

Luke gets the impression this is a normal argument, or at least one they’ve had a few times since peppermint season started.

“It’s sugar.”

Emily scowls. “You could use some sweetening up.”

Luke gets the distinct impression that there isn’t a single other person on the face of the planet who could get away with that. He also gets the surprising impression that there was a while there where TDB didn’t think it would be a thing ever again. His stomach sinks a little. He can remember those few months where TDB came in with friends that weren’t Emily before he disappeared completely.

TDB just mirrors her eye roll, doesn’t wince or spill his coffee when Emily takes a swipe at him. “Come on,” and Luke always forgets just how low his voice sounds, how Luke would never believe the tone could come from such a hard-shelled man if Luke hadn’t heard it himself. “Our table’s free.”

Emily chatters the whole way over, waxing poetic about Peppermint Season. TDB lets her, doesn’t even blink as she does it, nor does he look exasperated. Instead, and only because Luke is being totally creepy and actually watching, he sees the way the corner of TDB’s mouth tilts up just a little, amused and like maybe TDB had planned the whole thing.

They’re so absorbed in themselves, the two of them leaning close over the table and Luke knows, _he knows_ , they’re not together because there’s a little fission of tension that follows them around like a bad penny. But as he watches, as the conversation turns somber, their voices quieting to a murmur Luke cannot hear over the music and natural buzz of his job, he gets the absolute pleasure of watching Emily reach out and rest her hand on TDB’s.

When TDB’s only response is to tangle their fingers together, Luke thanks the Peppermint Gods for coming through once again.

He loves the holidays.


	2. Chapter 2

God, she feels like death warmed over. She’s not even sick. She has no reason not to make the trek out to Quantico today but God, she really doesn’t want to.

Their last case… She always has problems with cases that involve kids, with the pictures she has to have up on her screen, with the lives she has to dig through to find the killer. She’s not good with gore on a good day, really, she’s not good with the job they do – but she does it, she does it well, because she Can Do Something, and as long as that’s true, she’s going to do this job if it kills her – but this…

“Penelope.”

She looks up, tries to smile for Luke because he’s her favourite barista and he’s a good kid – that had been going the way she had and she’d, well, recognized the signs, pulled him out a little, offered him her card – but it doesn’t work. “Sorry.”

Luke shakes his head, slides the mug in his hands in front of her. “Blond God over there sends his regards.”

She blinks at Luke for a moment, tries to put two and two together as she looks down at the steaming cup, the scent of peppermint floating into her nose, then up to the man in question.

The smoking hot specimen of a man that, while she is a one chocolate thunder god kind of girl, could give her Derek a run for his money. She chews her lip for a moment, because a guy like that does not give her the time of day, then gives into her gut and waves him over. He looks startled, worried, and she rolls her eyes and does it again.

“Hi,” she says when he’s close enough.

“Ma’am,” he says, looking so very much like a scolded school boy. “If I was out of line-“

“No,” she interrupts, shakes her head for good measure. “Actually, thank you.”

He shuffles a little on his feet and she narrows her eyes as she takes a good look at his face. It’s one she’s seen before, though she can’t for the life of her figure out where-

“I’m Steve.”

Oh. Oh there it is. She blinks. God, she’s out of it. “Rogers?” she asks quietly, because she is surprised but she is not stupid. If this man is Captain America trying to enjoy a quiet coffee in her DC coffee shop she will not be the one to expose his not-so-secret identity.

He blushes, but stiffens. “Yes.”

She looks down at the coffee again. “Captain America bought me a coffee.”

“Um, peppermint latte actually. I have it on good authority they’re amazing.”

Penelope blinks up at him for another moment, wonders absently what woman introduced him to the brilliance of peppermint syrup (then remembers belatedly he knows Tony Stark and if anyone was going to drink high sugar flavoured drinks it would totally be him) then shakes herself when he shifts on his feet.

“Look, ma’am, if I was out of line, I’m sorry but I’d appreciate it if-“

“Why?” she blurts and it is embarrassing, oh wow.

He frowns. “Sorry?”

“Why did you buy me a coffee?”

“Because you looked like you needed it.” Then his eyes widen. “I mean- I don’t mean you look terrible, just-“

The laughter bubbles up despite herself, overtaking the melancholy, the depression, the anger at seeing all of those bodies, all of those lives taken before their time. He looks startled, surprised as she drops her head into her hands.

“Sorry,” she eventually manages to gasp out. “Sorry.” She blinks away the tears of laughter, waves him to the seat. He takes it, slowly.

“I work for the FBI,” she says, in that easy way she has, and also because this is Steve fricken Rogers and if she can’t trust Captain America with personal information, who can she trust? “I’m a technical analyst. Computers stuff. Hacking.” She waves her hand like she’s wiping away her stumbling explanation, her latte swishing dangerously as she lifts it. “We’re the ones that look at the tough stuff. The serial killers. The worst of the worst.”

He looks immediately worried and baffled. “You don’t look like a fed.”

She grins. “Thank you. Anyway, we just had a rough one. Like a really, really bad one, and I was feeling… bad. Really upset. Because kids shouldn’t be taken before their time and parents shouldn’t be left living when their kids aren’t-“

“Kids?”

He looks so stricken and she reaches out because that is what she does and who she is. She squeezes his very, very firm forearm. “Hey, it’s okay. We got him.”

But it disturbs him, she can see it.

She takes another sip of her coffee, waves her free hand again. “Anyway, bad day. But, you know, Captain America bought me a coffee.”

He huffs out a breath like he’s not totally sure what he’s going to do with her. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Penelope,” she says easily. “Penelope Garcia.” She puts her mug down and holds out her hand. He shakes it, his grip strong, solid.

“Pleasure to meet you, Penelope.”

“Likewise,” she says, “Steve.”

He grins.


	3. Chapter 3

They’ve been coming in together for a while, a couple of months or so. The man he recognizes because it’s not like Captain Rogers can run around as inconspicuous as ever after the events of New York and DC, not to mention the little friendship he’s managed to strike up with Penelope (who is his favourite, okay?). The woman, however, he doesn’t know and neither she, nor the captain seemed particularly willing to introduce him.

Which is fine. It’s totally fine. He’s just their regular barista, he’s not a friend or a colleague.

And he is not bitter about it at all.

It’s still early in the season, peppermint still shiny and new after the months of pumpkin spice, and Luke’s just adding some extra lemon loaf to the display when they walk in. The moment they do, Luke knows there’s something different. There’s a shyness to the captain Luke’s never seen before and the woman is wearing actual jeans. Luke’s pretty sure he’s never seen her outside of completely put-together business wear. She’s a calm, steady presence next to the captain’s side though he can’t seem to stop darting glances her way, as if sure she’ll disappear.

Oh my God, Luke finally realizes, eyes widening despite himself, this is their first date.

He’s not surprised, per se. Captain Rogers has never been particularly subtle about the way he looks at his companion. It’s her that Luke’s never really been sure of. He’s mature enough to admit it’s been fun to watch at times. She’s so damn stubborn. He and Amy keep a running tally in the back of who wins each battle over paying for her cup. She’s winning. But Luke has to admit, the captain doesn’t back down easily.

He thinks maybe that’s why they’re here.

(There's maybe a pool, because no one believes him. But Luke's been doing this job long enough to identify budding romances in their early stages. Adults in the pre-relationship stage don't actually act that much different than the kids. It's an endless source of his amusement.)

The captain is actually blushing as he steps up to the register, like this is his first time ever ordering and not the millionth. Luke’s honestly half way through punching in his order already, arching a subtle eyebrow the woman’s way. She catches it and offers this small, smug little smile and-

Oh.

Ha.

Luke bites down on his cheek. It’s not like he believed, even for a second, that she wasn’t the one “in control”. She strikes him as the type, but he’s taken enough psychology classes to identify this as a willful turn over. She is as independent as they come, but she’ll let him have this. And from the look on the captain’s face, the sparkle in his eyes, he’s utterly thrilled by it.

Luke bites down on a laugh.

“Uh,” the captain starts. “The usual for me, Luke.”

Grande decaf. So Luke arches his eyebrow. “And?”

Rogers actually fidgets and Luke feels like he’s caught in some movie. This is actually the beginning of a romcom, he knows it. He’s totally going to rub it in Amy’s face later.

“Grande, skim milk, extra hot, extra shot, peppermint latte.”

And Luke is officially impressed. It’s the kind of order Rogers rolls his eyes at, though Luke’s pretty sure that’s because from first glance, the woman doesn’t look like a super detailed and fancy coffee type. He watches her lean forward, just into Rogers’ space, and watches him flush.

“Nicely done.”

This time, Luke can't stop his snort of laughter. It earns him a glare from Rogers, and Luke beams. "Coming right up, sir."

Rogers mutters and pays when Luke tells him the total. But it's the woman who steps up after Rogers has stepped back, a little smile dancing over her face that both terrifies Luke and gives him a first-hand glimpse into the likely reason Rogers looks at her like she just shines.

"How much did you win?"

Luke sputters for a moment, but her eyebrow just arches. If she's a cop - and Luke really doesn't know, though he figures some sort of law enforcement (the dismembered SHIELD?) - he thinks this is exactly the look she'd give while interrogating international terrorists. He can actually feel his palms start to sweat.

"About $250," he finally murmurs as he fills Rogers' cup. She makes a little noise. Her smile is maybe a little more proud and a little less threatening than Luke had expected. "How did you know?"

Her smile turns absolutely predatory. "Because Steve owes me fifty bucks."

Luke's eyes jolt to Rogers, who sighs. "Everyone bet on us."

She hums. "Didn't think it would be so upsetting to you, Captain." And wow, wow. If Luke heard that taunting voice every day he's pretty sure he'd be gone over her too. "Kind of implies we're a sure thing."

Luke gets the absolute pleasure of watching Rogers sputter like a schoolboy, and grins. He hides when he turns to put the extra shot of peppermint in her latte and it only makes him grin wider, the scent of peppermint in his nose.


End file.
